Time to Move On (31 page)

Betty hurried over to try and calm her brother. Seranne briefly explained herself then Alun picked up the form and handed it to Ed.

‘I want you to have half of everything the guest house makes,’ Seranne said calmly. ‘An accountant has drawn up an agreement. After your wages and the outgoings are paid, you get half of the profits. After my time I’ll do what Elsie asked, and pass the place on to someone who will benefit from an unexpected windfall.’

Ed said nothing, he frowned as though unable to take in what was being said.

That’s very generous. It was what your Elsie wanted, Ed,’ Betty added. ‘Elsie was kind and thoughtful, and aware of how much a life could benefit from such a wonderful gift.’

‘Please yourself,’ Ed muttered. He handed his empty glass to Betty. ‘Give me a refill, why don’t you, so I can sleep and forget about Seranne’s thieving.’

‘Time you went home,’ Betty said beckoning to Colin and Bob.

‘No need, I’ve closed the premises. I deserve a holiday.’

Tony looked surprised. ‘Since when? I’ve been delivering as usual and so have the other people. There’s bread in the outhouse and the butcher and green grocer want paying and so do I.’

Alun stood with Bob trying to lift the man out of his seat.

‘No,’ Luke said. ‘I think we should take him.’

‘Yes, you take me, you and Seranne, so I can tell you exactly what I think of your offer.’

Without protest he stood up, accepted the support of Luke’s arm and shuffled from the bar. At the door he stopped and waved at Betty and Alun. ‘I hope you have better luck than I did,’ he muttered.

‘I think you can take that as Ed’s version of wishing you good luck,’ Colin muttered.

Ed sobered up when they stepped outside. The air was warm for the beginning of September and he pushed away their arms and walked steadily around the corner from the post office and up to his door. ‘You needn’t come in,’ he said.

Ignoring him they followed him in. ‘I don’t think he’s really drunk, just angry,’ Luke said, ‘but a coffee wouldn’t hurt.’ He opened the kitchen door and stopped as the light revealed chaos. Behind him Seranne gasped as she saw the unwashed dishes and pans, the dirty cooker and greasy sink.

‘What’s been happening here?’

‘He’s done nothing for days,’ Seranne said in disbelief.

‘Why should I?’ Ed shouted.

‘Because it’s half yours, you fool,’ Luke said.

While the party continued at the Ship and Compass, Luke and Seranne set to and cleared the filthy kitchen. Besides the unwashed china, the fridge and the outhouse were full of stale food, hidden in boxes and beginning to decay. It was as they put it into the rubbish bin that they found the torn booking ledger. When they went to find Ed for an
explanation
, he had gone.

‘We’d better get back to the Ship and tell Betty what’s happened,’
Seranne said. ‘Trust Ed to ruin her special day.’

‘We’ll go back, but she doesn’t need to know about this today, does she?’

The party was still going strong having been reduced to Betty and Alun’s closest friends. The bar was closed and the group had moved into the living-room. Slumped in an armchair, was Ed.

Betty insisted on knowing what happened and they told her about the negligence and the booking ledger they had found in the rubbish.

‘Leave him to me,’ Betty said. ‘Tomorrow I’ll make him see sense – if he has any!’

Luke had arranged to stay at the guest house although his booking had been thrown away with the rest. It was he who walked Ed home for the second time that evening. One of the bedrooms was unused and Luke lay in the bed, wide awake, no longer thinking about Ed, but wondering what would happen when Seranne met Marion.

Luke had arranged to meet Marion at a restaurant in Cowbridge the following evening. He called for Seranne at seven, and they set off in silence, each wondering what the situation would be at the end of the evening.

Seranne had no idea what to expect; Luke had told her nothing about the woman and she prepared to face anger similar to that handed out to her by Ed. She must be the most unpopular inhabitant of Cwm Derw, she decided, as the car took them closer to the woman she had replaced.

They were the first to arrive and they sat there unable to talk to each other both aware of how much their future depended on the next hour. As people walked in, Seranne’s heart leapt. Was she the one? Or this one?

When a young woman came in leading a child aged about five, she looked away, and continued to stare at the doorway and hardly noticed the couple were approaching them.

‘Luke?’ the woman said.

Luke stood and introduced them. ‘Seranne, this is Marion Harper. Marion, meet Seranne. And this little lady,’ he said, bending to kiss the child’s cheek, ‘is Helen.’

Seranne stared at the woman and tried to imagine her as Luke’s wife. She was plainly dressed and her hair was clean and neatly cut but hanging limply about her shoulders. Her clothes were also clean but simple and well washed.

‘I think Luke would like me to explain why he has been helping me and my daughter,’ Marion said, offering her hand.

‘I don’t think there’s any need,’ Seranne said, embarrassed. How could
Luke put her in this difficult position?

‘I presume you know we were to marry, and well, I met someone else just weeks before the wedding and I went away with this other man and left Luke standing at the altar.’

‘You weren’t married? But I thought—’

‘So did everyone else. The families said nothing, certain it would blow over as Luke told them it would. He was determined to find me and was convinced I would regret my mistake and we could marry secretly. I refused him a second time. Luke went away and I went too, with Helen’s father and apart from the families, everyone presumed we had married and were living together in a distant town.’

‘But surely the truth came out?’

‘Strangely enough it didn’t. The wedding was a small affair, only six people present, even though it was in a church. Both families waited for Luke and me to come home, the house we had rented stood waiting for us and, well, time passes and the affair slipped from people’s minds. Then Luke found me again and I was expecting Helen and the man who had promised to marry me was long gone.’

‘So then you married?’

‘No, I could hardly expect a third chance, could I? Luke, being the generous man he is, helped us to get on our feet. He found a caravan at first, then, as money grew easier we moved into a couple of rooms.’

‘You and Luke?’

‘No.’ Marion smiled. ‘It was over between us from the moment I ran out of that church wearing the white dress and veil. We both knew that. Just Helen and me.’

‘You see,’ Luke explained, ‘Marion and I had known each other for a long time and I couldn’t feel free of Marion even though there was no chance of a reconciliation.’

‘He promised to help, until Helen and I were settled.’

‘And are you?’ Seranne asked, helping Helen into her chair.

‘I’ve met someone special, a man who loves Helen as much as he loves me. We’re getting married.’

They began to eat, even though Seranne was so confused she didn’t think she could swallow a thing. But the presence of the bright little
five-year
-old helped and by the time the meal was over they were all relaxed, though Seranne had a thousand questions demanding to be heard.

It wasn’t until they were driving home that Seranne asked, ‘Why didn’t
you
tell me?’

‘I tried, several times, but you were too quick to make up your mind.’

‘You warned me about jumping to conclusions, I remember that.’

‘Seranne, I’m so proud of you. The way you have accepted Paul and your mother being together, and how you’ve handled Ed, and your
inheritance
, and now, facing Marion not having all the facts. Where is that quick-tempered girl I first knew?’

‘She’s grown up I suppose.’

They got out of the car near Jessica’s Victorian Tea Rooms, to see how the work was progressing. A small dog leapt out of a gateway and barked at her. She squealed and tripped over the kerb, and Luke grabbed her as she began to shout. ‘Did you see that? The animal is dangerous and shouldn’t be out without a lead. I’m going to complain.’ She was heading towards the gate where the dog was cowering, when she became aware of Luke’s laughter.

‘Not completely grown up, I’m happy to say,’ he said, gathering her once again into his arms.